1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. The Club 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and Double Elvis. 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: Amy Winehouse died at the age of seven, and she 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: lived the life that was as high octane as it 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: was unique. I can give you twenty seven reasons why 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: that statement is true. Nineteen would be the age she 8 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: was when she had already locked down a publishing deal 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: with E M I, a management deal in an audition 10 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: with Island Records. Three more was roughly the hour in 11 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: the morning that she was spotted running down Regent Street 12 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: in London, her body bruised and bloodied, with her husband, 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: Blake Fielder, civil hot on her trail. Another two would 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: be the amount of her money in hundreds of thousands 15 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: of pounds that some shady characters would demand in an 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: extortion deal to prevent her husband from doing serious time 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: for the assault of an innocent man. And three more 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: will be the number of times London police would bang 19 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: on the back door of her Camden Town flat before 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: ramming it down with brute force. All totally on this 21 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: our second episode of season four, pop Culture Powerhouses. A 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: bruised and bloody chase, shady extortion deals and Amy Winehouse. 23 00:01:27,080 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in This is twenty seven Club. Yea. 24 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would 25 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: burst from her chest, and her head was spinning. Her 26 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: lungs were on fire. London was making a racket. Engines, 27 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: revving car horns, blaring feet shuffling. She swore she could 28 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: hear the earth turning on its axis. The grinding of 29 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: soil and rock and fire seemed to resonate from the 30 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: depths of the planet's core all the way up to 31 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: King's Cross. Amy Winehouse wasn't drunk or high. In fact, 32 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: she was stone cold sober. She did, however, fear that 33 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: she was having a panic attack. If this was what 34 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: a panic attack felt like, she had never experienced one before. 35 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: She was nineteen years old and on her way to 36 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: an audition for Island Records executives at their London office, 37 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: and she was suddenly afraid that she was about to 38 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: make a deal with yet another devil. The audition itself 39 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: was no sweat. Amy could sing in front of anyone. 40 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: It didn't matter if it was a classroom full of 41 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: little kids or a suit in a corporate office. She'd 42 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: had that natural confidence for years at home in self Gate, 43 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: as a student at the prestigious Sylvia Young Theater School, 44 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: and as the featured vocalist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. 45 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: Singing was the furthest thing from fear that Amy Winehouse knew. 46 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: The real fear was that, at just nineteen years old, 47 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: she was signing her life away before she really knew 48 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: what she wanted her life to be. She prepared to 49 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: make a decision that day inside Island Records offices. She'd 50 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: heard that five different labels were engaged in a bidding 51 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: war for her. But what if Island offered her a 52 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: deal right then and there. She'd already sign that publishing 53 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: deal with the m I. And that management deal was 54 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: nineteen Management of All Places, Devil one and Devil two. 55 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: Simon Fuller ran nineteen Management, and Simon Fuller, well, he 56 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: didn't know shit about music. Sure, he'd broke an artists 57 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: like Pat Benatar, Billy Idol and Huey Lewis and the 58 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: News back in the eighties. But don't let that fool you. 59 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: He was not a music guy. He was a business guy. 60 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: He paid more attention to trends and markets and bottom lines, 61 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: and he did two scenes and singers. He gave the 62 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: people what they thought they wanted, spoon fed it to them. 63 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: He told the public that they wanted prefab quote unquote 64 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: bands like the Spice Girls and probably the most blatant 65 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,119 Speaker 1: example of fake plastic money grubbing bullocks since The Village People. 66 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: And then there was the pop Idol competition TV show, 67 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: the very one that spawned American Idol, in which once 68 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: again reinforced music as some commodity whose worth was decided 69 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: upon by a handful of equally fake plastic money grubbing judges. 70 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: Amy Winehouse did not want to be associated with the 71 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: Spice Girls or a popeyo. She was embarrassed, to be honest, 72 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: and also terrified that her association with nineteen management would 73 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: homogenize her unique sound because Amy Winehouse wasn't like any 74 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: other She wasn't cookie cutter, couldn't teach this, you were 75 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: born with this. He didn't get any Winehouse out of 76 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: a competition. And how did she get this way? How 77 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: did she sound like? She sounded shades of Billy Holiday, 78 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: in shades of Sara Van or Stax in Motown a 79 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: voice calling out of the past from the mouth of 80 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: a petite Jewish girl from North London. The old songs 81 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: crackled from an old radio in her house and immediately 82 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: found her ears. And then the songs would echo back 83 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: into the room, this time not from the radio but 84 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: instead from Amy's voice. She was a receiver or conduit. 85 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: She couldn't describe it, It just happened. Amy Winehouse was 86 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: a naturally occurring phenomenon. She was not manufactured. So when 87 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: it came to management in publishing record contracts, she'll tell 88 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: you what she wants, what she really really wants. Even 89 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: back at the Sylvia Young Theater School, where Amy was 90 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: a teenage student on a scholarship, she did what she wanted, 91 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: and in addition to singing, that included showing up to 92 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: school late, chewing gum and class, and defying the dress 93 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: code by piercing her nose. And the Sylvia Young Theater 94 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: School couldn't handle it couldn't handle how real she was 95 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: or how unique she was. They couldn't deal with the 96 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: fact that she wasn't another cookie cutter singer destined for 97 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: a prefound quote unquote band or a TV competition where 98 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: she would be judged by other fake plastic so called singers, 99 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: so they kicked her out, and then they had the 100 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: audacity later on to say that they hadn't kicked her out, 101 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: but that Amy had left on her own. A company 102 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: like nineteen Management wasn't the Sylvia Young Theater School. Simon 103 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: Fuller wouldn't just kick her out if she refused to 104 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: do things his way. He'd either make her do things 105 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: his way, or he would just wait it out until 106 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: she came around. Fuller and nineteen Management had been waiting 107 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: it out for a year now, having signed Amy when 108 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: she was eighteen years old and developing her style and 109 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: repertoire behind the scenes while waiting for the right moment 110 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: to break her into the market. In the time was 111 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: now two thousand two. The room at Island Records Corporate 112 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: offices was smaller than she was expecting. Maybe it was 113 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: all the people stuff inside that made it seem small. 114 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: Record executives and our people managers. As she began to 115 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: sing the Jazz standard, there was no greater love for 116 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,559 Speaker 1: the gathered crowd. She began to feel her heartbeat slow 117 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: down in the world stopped spinning, her lungs filled with air. 118 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: The fear went away. It was just the song and 119 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: the way the song felt. When she sent it out 120 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: into the world. The room filled up with that voice, 121 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,559 Speaker 1: the one that came from an old radio in a house, 122 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: and self gate pulled everyone that heard it out of 123 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,679 Speaker 1: time and into another time. It was magic, It was voodoo. 124 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: It was something that every record label employee knew they 125 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: would never be able to control. The voice would do 126 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: its own thing, what it really really wanted, and no 127 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: one could tell it otherwise. The song ended in the 128 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: room erupted an applause, and by the end of the year, 129 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: Amy Winehouse had yet to physically transform into the Amy 130 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: Winehouse the world would come to know in two thousand two. 131 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: There was no behive hair do, a few tattoos taking 132 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: up real estate on her arms, no century pin up 133 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: girl chic, but she would have a record contract with Ireland, 134 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: with the understanding that she would do things the only 135 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: way she knew how. Time would tell if the label deal, 136 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: the publishing deal, or the management deal would reveal itself 137 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,719 Speaker 1: as the true devil in her life, or if there 138 00:08:45,800 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: was another. Amy Winehouse was running. Her leg was beginning 139 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: to cramp up. She was out of breath, her mask. 140 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: Garrow was smashed on her face, and there was a 141 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,199 Speaker 1: cut near her eyebrow, blood along her hairline. Her jeans 142 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: were torn at the knee, exposing bloody flesh, more blood 143 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: on her pink ballet shoes. Her knuckles were swollen, bruises 144 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: on the side of her neck, and the tears, however, 145 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: they were gone. They'd dried on their own, or perhaps 146 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: they'd dried with the help of the wind on her face. 147 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: She kept running down Regent Street as fast as she could. 148 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: She could hear her husband chasing her. His rhythmic breathing 149 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: was in frantic tandem with hers. Amy felt a visceral 150 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: connection to everything he did, even if the place that 151 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: connection always led them was inevitable doom. But at the moment, 152 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: Amy was running away from a different inevitable doom, one 153 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: that he would bring about. She wasn't sure what Blake 154 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: would do to her if she caught up to her, 155 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: and she didn't want to know. Blake was screaming her 156 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: name NonStop, Amy, Amy, Amy, Amy kept running, Blake kept screaming. 157 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: Every time Blake screamed out loud, Amy thought of what 158 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: he had looked like when she had taken off on 159 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: foot seconds ago back at the Sanderson Hotel. His face 160 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: and neck dug raw, long jagged claw marks, fresh blood 161 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: splattered about his chin, and the site made her feel sick, satisfied, 162 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: and guilty, all at the same time. Amy, get back here. 163 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: Amy's feet ached inside her bloody ballet issues. She rounded 164 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: a corner and spotted an oncoming car. It was dark, 165 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,599 Speaker 1: late three am or some ungodly hour. She waved frantically 166 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: and caught the driver's attention. The car slowed, the window 167 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: rolled down. Amy slumped against the door, her bruised, bloodied, 168 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 1: and smeared face, telling an le, noble story. I have 169 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: to get in, and he said, desperately, tugging at the 170 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: door handle, I have to get away, Please help me. 171 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: The first time Amy Winehouse laid eyes on blake Fielder 172 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: Civil she was on the rebound. She and her boyfriend 173 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: of nine months were over. She was drinking and shooting 174 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: pool at the Good Mixer and Camden, and she had 175 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: a bump as of a golf ball on her head. 176 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: The night before, she woke up in the hospital after 177 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: she had knocked back one too many sambucas and took 178 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: a nasty fall. Now she was trying to move on 179 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: from the previous evening's mishap and with a little help 180 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: from a little hair of the dog, just like she 181 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: was trying to move on from her recent emotional split. 182 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: And then he walked in, tall, tattooed trouble. Blake Fielder 183 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 1: civil didn't have a particular talent to speak of, or 184 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: a hobby, unless loitering around Camden waiting for the right 185 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: opportunity to drop into his lap was a hobby. He's 186 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,959 Speaker 1: often given a little too much credit as a video 187 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: production assistant, but in reality, his one and only I 188 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: AMDB credit at this moment in time, It's a gopher 189 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: on a Lily Allen video. All Amy knew was that 190 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,439 Speaker 1: in her eyes he was f I N E. Fine. 191 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: Was that the tattoos and the hat, the twinkle in 192 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: his eye that said that he gave his little fox 193 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: as she gave. She heard that love was blind, but 194 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: damn her eyes were wide open. And he had something. 195 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: And there was one thing that Blake had on this 196 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: day in two thousand five that he rarely had money. 197 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: He'd won big on some bets with his bookie that day, 198 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: and he was in the mood to celebrate, which was 199 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: convenient for Amy because the bar was refusing to serve 200 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: her that night. The local pubs in Campden had all 201 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: seen her drunk by dinner many times before or time 202 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: went on early at lunchtime, but the line on this 203 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: night had been drawn on account of the fact that 204 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: her latest bender had literally landed her in a hospital bed. 205 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: If the bar had its way, Amy Winehouse was taking 206 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: the night off, so Amy made her way over to Blake. 207 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: She figured he'd already knew who she was. Her debut album, 208 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: Frank had peaked on the UK charts at number fourteen 209 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: the year before, and Amy had also been nominated for 210 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: a British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act at 211 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 1: the two thousand for brit Awards. She was going from 212 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: a pub stable to a national icon, and it was 213 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: happening fast. She put two pounds in Blake's palm and 214 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: asked him to go by her tequila. The bartender would 215 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: take her money, just as long as it didn't come 216 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: from her. Blake told her to keep her money. The 217 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: drinks were on him. Like Romeo and Juliette or Batriette 218 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 1: like Sitting Nancy, Blake and Amy were doomed. From the 219 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: start as a couple of their highs were sky high 220 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: and their lows were rock bottom. When they drank at 221 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: places like the Holly Arms and shot pooled to the 222 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: soundtrack of girl groups and garage rock blasting from the 223 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 1: pub's jukebox, they were content at be But then there 224 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: were the moments when it would all fall apart. The 225 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: bar would close, the night would end, the highs evaporated, 226 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,439 Speaker 1: and the lowes kicked in. And when the lows kicked in, 227 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: that's when the cutting started. Self harm, self mutilation. A 228 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:17,839 Speaker 1: slice or a nick on the arm or the leg 229 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: brought about a desired amount of pain, a new pain 230 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: that you could focus on, so that you didn't have 231 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: to think about the pain of being in love, or 232 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: the pain of being out of love, or the pain 233 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: of being famous, or the pain of being strung out 234 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: and needing a fix. The cutting was the fix, and 235 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: the abuse was skin deep. Friends of the couple said 236 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: Amy and Blake routinely engaged in quote unquote emotional s 237 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: and m one upping each other with mind games and 238 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: cruel manipulation. Their abuse of other things is notorious, mostly 239 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: heroin and crack cocaine, both of which Blake allegedly introduced 240 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: to Amy shortly after the two married in a secret 241 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: ceremony in Miami, May of two thousand seven. Just months later, 242 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: in August, Amy was back in the hospital an overdose 243 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: caused by a reported mixture of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, 244 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: and alcohol in her system. She took drugs as if 245 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: she was built like Andrea the Giant, not a petite 246 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: twenty three year old. The combination nearly killed her, and 247 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: then just days later, at the Sanderson Hotel in London, 248 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: another nearly lethal combination of drugs, drank, emotional s and 249 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: m and physical violence. The sounds coming from Amy and 250 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: Blake's five thousand pounded night's sweet were so loud that 251 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: the hotel's reception phone began to ring off the hook. 252 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: Guests reported hearing screen shouts, obscenities, the violent sounds of 253 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: furniture being thrown. The hotel concierge called the police, and 254 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: then Amy and Blake went from fight to flight and 255 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: took their drama on the run down Regent Street before 256 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: the cops arrived on the scene. Now, Amy was sitting 257 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: in a stranger's car, bruised and bloodied. She looked out 258 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: the passages side window and could see the Thames approaching 259 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: in the distance. She asked the driver to drop her 260 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: off with the Charing Cross tube station. The next day, 261 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: the headline and The Guardian red wine House bloodied after 262 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: alleged marital row. A spokesman for Scotland Yard, gave this 263 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: statement following a third party report to police regarding suspected 264 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: injuries to a woman in her twenties. Police officers spoke 265 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: with a woman and no criminal offenses have been alleged. 266 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: That same day in the Daily Mail, the plot thickened 267 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: in a series of new photos. Amy and Blake reunited 268 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: shortly after Amy had been dropped off at Sharing Cross, 269 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: walking through Soho around four am that same morning. In 270 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: the photos, Blake, with extensive wounds on his face and neck, 271 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: has his arm wrapped tight around the waist of Amy, 272 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: whose face is black and blue from the combination of 273 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: smudged mascara and bruises across the pond. In Hollywood, celebrity 274 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: blogger and professional shitster Perez Hilton, who had claimed earlier 275 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: that summer that his website clocked nearly nine million hits 276 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: on one day, published a new post about Amy Winehouse 277 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: his narrative arc and the tabloids. Quote funk this fake 278 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: Hollywood bullshit, he wrote. Quote Amy Winehouse is going to 279 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: die if she continues down this destructive path. Click here 280 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: for graphic pictures of a bloody fight that erupted in 281 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: the wee hours of Thursday morning. Ditch that lose her husband. 282 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: Perez Hilton was both chastising the drama while simultaneously selling it. 283 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: He had an ego to feed, after all, not to 284 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: mention page hits to accumulate on his blog. Everyone saw 285 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: what he had written, including Amy. She sent the blogger 286 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: a series of text messages demanding that he issue a retraction. 287 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: Quote Blake is the best man in the world unquote. 288 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: She attempted to explain what had happened that night that 289 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,959 Speaker 1: I could walked in on her about to do drugs 290 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: with a call girl in their hotel room. Blake's angry 291 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: response was to roll out that emotional s and m 292 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: Amy was worthless. Amy wasn't good enough for him. Amy 293 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,880 Speaker 1: bought the bullshit and then quickly sought out new pain 294 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,479 Speaker 1: to ease the pain she felt from disappointing her husband. 295 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: She punished herself one cut and then another Blake tried 296 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: to stop her from continuing to harm herself, and that's 297 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,120 Speaker 1: when things got out of control. I lost it. Amy's 298 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,439 Speaker 1: whole press, Hilton, and he saved my life. To Amy, 299 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: Blake was her ride and die for richer or poorer 300 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,199 Speaker 1: in sickness or in health, as if she was one 301 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,160 Speaker 1: of the Bee Hive girl group songbirds of a bygone era. 302 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: Love struck over her boyfriend who just got back, and boy, 303 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: you're gonna be sorry better the devil you know. We'll 304 00:18:52,400 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: be right back after this word word world. James King 305 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: was locking up the Macbeth Pub in East London when 306 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: Michael Brown came back. This fucking guy again. King thought 307 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: to himself, why was it that the ones who attracted 308 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: the most trouble were the ones who were the hardest 309 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,439 Speaker 1: to get rid of. In King's eyes, it had all 310 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: been very cut and very dry. Michael Brown was at 311 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: the pub earlier that evening with his friend Blake Field, 312 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: her civil James King knew that Blake had been seen 313 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: around town with Amy Winehouse, who was no stranger to 314 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: the Macbeth. King liked Amy. It was hard not to. 315 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: She was a foul mouth sweetheart. King didn't know Blake 316 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: from Adam. He did know Michael Brown, and more specifically, 317 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,479 Speaker 1: he knew that Michael Brown had a volatile relationship with 318 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: his ex girlfriend, and that's putting it lightly. And furthermore, 319 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 1: it sounded like she was on her way to the 320 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: Macbeth and she was pissed about something, probably the fact 321 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: that Michael Brown was there, and she wanted to be 322 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: there too. Him. James King saw a major fucking problem 323 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 1: coming down the pike. There was going to be some 324 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: dust up in his pub and then he was going 325 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: to have to clean up the mess. No, not tonight, 326 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 1: So he had told Michael Brown and his friend Blake, 327 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: the one with all the tattoos who looked like he 328 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: weighed seven stones so can wet, to finish their pints 329 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 1: and to funk off. James King came to regret that decision. 330 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: He was locking the double doors of the Macbeth later 331 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,120 Speaker 1: that night, after the drunks had gone home, and who 332 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: should show up but Michael Brown. Shit, this was not good. 333 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: Brown said, he just wanted to talk bullshit. Brown wanted 334 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: revenge for getting cost tossed for some ship that in 335 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: his eyes hadn't even happened, and who the fund did 336 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: James King think he was? Tom Cruise and Minority Report? 337 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: Fucking pre cog. Brown put himself in between the pub's 338 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: double doors, his left hand casually in the pocket of 339 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: his jeans, his right hand out in the open, gesturing wildly. 340 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 1: King was trying to explain his reasoning behind kicking Brown 341 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: and Blake out of the pub earlier, but it wasn't helping. 342 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: It was just making things worse. And then Michael Brown snapped. 343 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: He cocked his arm back and swung his fist directly 344 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: at James King's face direct hit. King went down hard 345 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: on the ground. His body was trapped between the doors. 346 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: Brown held him down and kept hitting him. King felt 347 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: bones near his cheek crack. He tasted blood, and his mom. 348 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: King had no idea that Blake Fielder Civil was laying 349 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: in wait in the alleyway just around the corner from 350 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: the pub. As soon as King was on the ground, 351 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: Blake appeared, cigarette dangling from his mouth. King tried to 352 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 1: get up, but Blake acted quickly. He thrust his foot 353 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: into King's body and head, kicking him back down. King 354 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: howled in pain. Seconds later, Brown and Blake walked away 355 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: briskly James King's face felt like it had been snapped 356 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: into He whimpered out loud, but couldn't form a word. 357 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: His jaw and cheek bones were broken. James King hoped 358 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: that the attack he'd suffered at the hands and feet 359 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,200 Speaker 1: of Michael Brown and Blake Fielder civil around midnight on 360 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: June two thousand and six will be the last he'd 361 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 1: hear from those two assholes, and that both time in 362 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: the long arm of the law would heal all wounds, 363 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: just like his reconstructed jaw would heal after extensive surgery. 364 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: But as the trial for the grievous bodily harm he'd 365 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: endured neared in October two thousand seven, James King received 366 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: another visit, this time at his own house far out 367 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: of town in East Sussex. It wasn't Blake or Brown 368 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: who showed up at his store this time, but two 369 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,359 Speaker 1: of there would be associates. One of them described the 370 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,640 Speaker 1: stockpile of weapons he had back home, as well as 371 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: just how cozy he was with local organized crime. The 372 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: other told King that if he would be willing to 373 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: withdraw a statement from the trial, if he did not 374 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: testify I, then he'd be handsomely rewarded in the neighborhood 375 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,880 Speaker 1: of two hundred thousand pounds, and in order to make 376 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,719 Speaker 1: sure the King would stand by such an agreement, there 377 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: were also going to pay for him to take a 378 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: trip to Thailand for the duration of the trial. In 379 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,360 Speaker 1: that way, no one would have to worry about anything. 380 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: And the first guy reminded King about his stockpile of 381 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: weapons back home two hundred thousand pounds. How were they 382 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: going to get that kind of money? King wanted to know. 383 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: Easy Blake could get the money. His wife had loads 384 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:35,679 Speaker 1: of it. By October two thousand seven, Blake Fielder Civil 385 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,919 Speaker 1: was no longer one of the random guys seen at 386 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: pubs with Amy Winehouse. He was still regularly at pubs, 387 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 1: but he was now Mr Amy Winehouse, which in two 388 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: thousand seven was a very good thing to be. The 389 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: week that Amy turned twenty four years old, just one 390 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: month before her sophomore album, Back to Black, officially became 391 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: a million seller in the UK. That same year, she 392 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: wont a brit Award for Best Female Solo Artist, an 393 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: l Style Award for her fashion sense, and Ivor Novello 394 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: Award for her songwriting. A Mojo magazine Award for having 395 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,159 Speaker 1: the Coolest Single on the Planet, a Q magazine Award 396 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: for having the Coolest LP in MTV euro Music Award 397 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 1: for a Dope Video. She even got a Gaffa Award, 398 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: which meant she was coolest ship in Denmark. And despite 399 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: the fact that her live performances around this time continued 400 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 1: to be erratic at best, including an entire US tour 401 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: that had to be canceled due to an increasing frequency 402 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: of scenes like the one of the Sanderson Hotel, Amy 403 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: nevertheless remained one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially 404 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: successful singers of her generation, and she did it by 405 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: being herself, by not allowing Simon Fuller to remake her 406 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: into a spice girl, or by compromising her unique musical 407 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: vision by aligning her interests with major corporate labels like 408 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: Island Records. If anything was being compromised, it was her 409 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,640 Speaker 1: reputation thanks to the offer laid out by the two 410 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: would be associates of her husband, who wanted to use 411 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: her money in order to swash the courtroom squeal that 412 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: would likely send him to prison. James King wondered if 413 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,639 Speaker 1: Amy even knew that she was being used as a 414 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: bank rowing pond and whatever game was being played, and 415 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: it didn't matter because whether or not James King was 416 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: going to accept the bride, he had to say that 417 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: he would how those what these guys were capable of, 418 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: or what they do to get what they wanted. But 419 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: then there would be associates realized what it was that 420 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,360 Speaker 1: they truly wanted a bigger piece of the extortion pie, 421 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,159 Speaker 1: so they tried to sell the whole story, along with 422 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: CCTV footage of the June two thousand and six assault, 423 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: to The Daily Mirror. Fuck Blake Fielder Civil and Fuck 424 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: Michael Brown. The middlemen were going to get real paid. 425 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: So these two would be associates agreed to wear hidden 426 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: cameras and recorded themselves having meetings at local pubs talking 427 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 1: about their plan. The one with the stockpile of weapons 428 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: back home said about James King, I'm gonna put the 429 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 1: heavies on him and make him sign off his statement 430 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: before any heavies could make anyone do anything. However, the 431 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: Daily Mirror found its conscience and turned all their evidence 432 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: over to the authorities, which meant that Amy Winehouse was 433 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: once again front page news, not for selling a million 434 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: albums or for winning another prestigious award or for hobbling 435 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 1: down Regent Street covered in bruises. No Amy Winehouse was 436 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 1: once again a magnet for tabloid ng because now there 437 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: was a warrant over the arrest of her husband in 438 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: this story, like all the other stories as of Lee, 439 00:26:35,320 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: was not going to end well. November eight, two thousand seven, 440 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: London police approached the flat and Camden Town was caution. 441 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: The sun had just set, headlights from passing cars lit 442 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: up the reflective strips on their fluorescent jackets. I love haparazzi, 443 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: and the news hadn't been tipped off, so there was 444 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,239 Speaker 1: no one there to bother them. They carefully made their 445 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: way to the back of the flat. They didn't want 446 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: to draw too much attention and also we're hoping that 447 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: the element of surprise would be on their side. They 448 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: knocked on the back door. Nothing, total silence from inside, 449 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: and they knocked again. Police. The cop up in front 450 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: said loudly and sternly, with his mouth practically touching the door. 451 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: Still nothing. Another knock, this one louder than the previous knocks, 452 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: more a full fisted bang. Really open this door immediately, 453 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: or we will open it forward. You the cops said. 454 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: His voice said irritated, his posture read impatient. He turned 455 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,479 Speaker 1: back to the others and signaled for assistance by nodding 456 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: his head. Another cop stepped forward from the group. A 457 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: helmet strapped to his head, he wielded an enforcer, a 458 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: k a. The Big Red Key, a handheld battering ram 459 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: popular with the squad when a little extra force was 460 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: required to gain entry. It looked like a small bomb, 461 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: and its red paint was peeling from where it had 462 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: been slugged against the resistant doors over the years. The 463 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,959 Speaker 1: cops swung the big chunk of hardened steel in his hands. 464 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: It put a hole in the door with a dull duck. Again, 465 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: the hole gap bigger, again, another hole. Pieces of the 466 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: door splintered off and fell to the ground. Another swing 467 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: from the Big Red Key in the door caved in. 468 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: The cops centered quickly and the place was a mess. 469 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: As expected, closed, strewing all over the floor, papers and compact. 470 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: This haphazardly tossed around glassware and drug paraphernalia on a table. 471 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: But he wasn't home, and neither was she. She wasn't 472 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: the one they were looking for anyway. Besides, Amy Winehouse 473 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: had her own problems. She was in the middle of 474 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: appealing a drug bust from back in October when she 475 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: was touring in Norway. Staff at the hotel Norris called 476 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: the cops after they smelled weed emanating from Amy's room. 477 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: Fucking narcs. She was being charged a seven fifteen dollar fine, 478 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: which wasn't the end of the world, but it was 479 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: one more shitty story in the papers, and another addition 480 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: to a growing list of offenses and misdeeds that told 481 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: an increasingly sad story of a charmed life losing all 482 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: of its charm in spiraling into a free fall. As 483 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: far as the cops were considered, however, her husband had 484 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: fallen long ago hit rock bottom that was now in 485 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: the process of dragging Amy down to a subterranean level. 486 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: Maybe this arrest would help her finally see the light. 487 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: And yeah, the cops were talking about this arrest like 488 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: it was an inevitable thing, because they were going to 489 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: get their man. They turn over every barstool and open 490 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: every bathroom stall and every pub from one side of 491 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: the Thames to the other to find him. He'd turned up. 492 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: The police had already spread out across Greater London and 493 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: nabbed Michael Brown and the two other middlemen accomplices for 494 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: to use the British vernacular perverting the course of justice, 495 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: in other words, attempting to extort James King, the man 496 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: beat into a bloody pulp by Blake and Brown, who 497 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: was also the key witness in the trial. They knew 498 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: it was only a matter of time before they had 499 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: Blake Fielder civil and handcuffs. What they didn't know was 500 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: what the arrest would do to Amy. It was a 501 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: light for her to see this wasn't going to help 502 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: or seek it out. If anything, it would make things 503 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: even worse than they had ever been before. I'm Jake Brennan, 504 00:30:51,840 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: and this is the tony seven Club. Club is hosted 505 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: and produced by me Jake Brennan for Double Elvis in 506 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Zeth Lundie is the lead 507 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: writer and co producer. This episode was mixed by Matt Bowden. 508 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker and Henry Lunetta. 509 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: Story and copy ending by Pat Healy. Sources for this 510 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: episode are available at Double Elvis dot com on the 511 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club series page. Talk to me on Social 512 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: Act Disgrace Sland Pod and hang out with me live 513 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: on my Twitch channel Disgrace Sland Talks. For more news 514 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: on your favorite podcast, follow at double Elvis on Instagram. 515 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 1: Rock rolla, What is